


nice work, kid

by twrlvepercent



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Iron Man 2, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sassy Peter, Stark Expo, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Young Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twrlvepercent/pseuds/twrlvepercent
Summary: the one where tony meets the kid from stark expo





	nice work, kid

**Author's Note:**

> edited 5.10.19

_A young boy is lost in the stampede of terrified people, fleeing the Stark Expo at the sight of armed robots._

_The boy tightens his plastic Iron Man mask, the quiet act rolling back his fear underneath the safety of his hero’s identity._

_The crowd has mostly cleared, a few stragglers still finding the exit, and the five-year-old boy is unable to find any sign of his aunt or uncle. He turns around at the sound of robotic joints and sees the haunting, metallic eyes that would remain in his mind for years._

_As Iron Man would, he raises a hand to fend off the much taller robot. It falls to pieces under a repulsor blast and the boy jumps back, confused and startled._

_The boy's confusion only lasts a second. Iron Man himself glances down at him for just a moment, needed elsewhere._

_"Nice work, kid."_

* * *

 

"Nice work, kid," Tony says, spinning his rolling chair around to face Peter as he enters. "Heard about your decathlon win."

 

"How?" Peter leaves his backpack by the door and joins Tony at the lab table. "I literally just got back."

 

He shrugs. "Word travels." Under Peter's questioning stare, Tony shrugs. "If I can't be there, Happy fills me in. That's why the divider goes up."

 

Peter scoffs. "His motivations are different than I thought."

 

"First of all, Hap doesn't think you're annoying," Tony says, nonchalant. His next words are lower—Peter only picked up on it because of his enhanced hearing. "I believe the actual word he used was 'insufferable.'"

 

"I must be hanging out with you too much then, Mr. Stark."

 

"Uncalled for. I didn't even know you were capable of sass." Tony points a screwdriver accusingly at him. He uses it to point to a metal shelf across the room. "Just for that, you have to grab the spares box from the shelf."

 

"Fine, fine," Peter says, hands up in surrender. He finishes tightening a screw and gets up, steadying his chair. 

 

"Surprised you haven't already talked my ear off about it. Nationals or not, the team tends to come up a lot."

 

Peter goes uncharacteristically quiet for a moment and the only sound in the lab is that of paper rustling. "I definitely think that talking about decathlon will have to wait, then."

 

Tony raises a brow, his project losing his attention as he watches Peter sift through a box of papers. Peter studies one carefully and smiles. "I cannoy believe you keep fanart," he says, a teasing tone underlining his voice. “Don’t you take pride in being, well, rated R?”

 

"Children are my most loyal fanbase." Tony leans back in his chair and Peter brings the box to the table. He grabs the paper Peter held, tracing his finger over messy lines, colored with cheap crayons. "Most of them are too young for mommy to explain why I'm a terrible person."

 

Normally, a comment like that would've sent Peter into an illustrated, seven-hour-long lecture on the wonders of Iron Man-slash-Tony Stark. This time, it only gets him a disapproving glare.

 

In a moment, Peter's attention is on something else. He pulls another drawing from the box, holding it like it’s an award. "Is this one your favorite? Maybe even fridge-worthy?" Peter grins, his words rushed with excitement.

 

The picture itself could only be interpreted as an Iron Man drawing because of the crude red and gold stick figure that stood next to a much shorter stick figure. The coloring isn't nearly accurate but Tony chalked that up to age.

 

"You know, picking a favorite drawing has got to be harder than picking a favorite kid."

 

Peter smirks. "Gotta say, if you pick this as your favorite drawing, you're essentially picking a favorite kid." He flips the paper over and points to a rough signature in the corner. "I did this."

 

"You did not," Tony says, reaching for the paper in disbelief. There, right on the back, is written Peter Parker, both P's backward. Five-year-old Peter had written  _thank yu_   under his name. "Who's Yu?" Tony jokes. "Why do I have to thank him?"

 

Peter rolls his eyes. "I think I sent this after you, y'know, saved my life."

 

"Germany?" Tony breathes a laugh. "I think we should sign you up for some drawing lessons. Definitely spelling classes."

 

"This was way, way, way before Germany! It was at, uh, Stark Expo." Peter pulls out his phone, fingers flying over the keyboard as he searches for a video. "I was five or six."

 

"You're just now telling me?" Tony asks, incredulous. "I've heard you mention more facts about Legos I think I would ever need and you're just now telling me that I saved your life when you were five."

 

"It never came up."

 

"Neither did Legos!"

 

"Found it!" Peter declares, turning his phone around for Tony to see. The video buffers for a split second but that still is all he needs to see for him to remember.

 

That kid scared him. Made him wonder how many other kids got hurt thinking they could be Iron Man.

 

Now that he knows it’s Peter, the video is different. The telltale curls beneath the mask, the surprise when the robot got blasted.

 

"Good to see your reckless trait didn't spontaneously generate," Tony mutters, almost as a note to himself. "That kid—you—nearly gave me a heart attack that night so I guess it's also good to know you didn't need to be bitten by a spider to do that." Tony eyes the teen critically. “Spider bite really only made you hear good, huh?”

 

“Among other things.” The video ends and Peter looks back at the drawing wistfully. "Well, thanks for not letting me kill myself."

 

"Someone's gotta look out for the Iron Man ripoffs."

 

"And I'm sure 'Yu' does a great job with that."

 

Tony laughs. When Peter leaves to go back to his apartment, Tony looks for an open spot on the fridge. With a Spider-Man magnet, he hangs up Peter’s old drawing, knowing it’s the one drawing that really matters.

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it please share it! i'm still really new at writing and all and would really appreciate the boost. if you liked it, please let me know!!
> 
> tumblr: twrlvepercent


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